Garments have been tailored for centuries, made by hand in order to provide a custom fit, known in the art as “bespoke”. In more recent times, detailed measurements of a subject are taken, and a garment is made by machine in accordance with those measurements, known in the art as “made-to-measure”. This may be contrasted with “off-the-rack”, wherein clothes are made to ideal sizes and sold with or without alteration. Made-to-measure suits provide superior fit and wearability in comparison with off-the-rack clothing, and provide a fit close to that of bespoke tailoring.
In order to manufacture a made-to-measure garment, a number of measurements (in some procedures, 42 measurements) are taken of the subject, typically by a tailor, a sales clerk or an assistant. This requires the subject for the made-to-measure garment to attend in person at the tailor's place of business to be measured. A sample prior art form for a made-to-measure garment is shown in FIG. 1.
The measurements taken for a jacket may include chest, overarm, finished ½ jacket waist, stomach, jacket seat, half back, point to point, left and right sleeve length, coat length, body indents, arm position, shoulder heights, neck sizes, and biceps. For pants, measurements taken may include waist, seat, rise, stride, knee, bottom circumference, left and right inseam, left and right outseam, lower front waistband. For a vest, measurements may include chest, vest opening, back length, front length. For a shirt, measurements may include collar size, chest, waist, sleeve length, yoke, body length, and cuff. Taking these measurements consumes a significant amount of both the tailor's and subject's time and is subject to error by the measurer.
There are fewer and fewer master tailors today that are able to measure and prepare a garment on a made-to-measure, so oftentimes made-to-measure means that the subject is measured, and the measurements are sent to the factory where the garment is made based on those measurements and other observations of the tailor or other person who makes the measurements. The quality of the measurements is therefore paramount and an increase in the accuracy of measurements will reduce returned garments or complaints about the fit.
Therefore there is a need for a garment fitment system which allows accurate measurements to be taken remotely by the subject without the need to attend at a tailor or for assistance by another person. As well, a reduction in the number of measurements made can result in a shorter measurement time.